Coronavirus pandemic causes jigsaw puzzle sales to skyrocket

(CBS News) – With millions of Americans staying home these days, an old favorite is seeing a surge in popularity.

Jigsaw puzzles are providing a welcome relief for families looking to pass the time together, and sales are skyrocketing.

Puzzle Warehouse, the largest distributor of puzzles in the country, says its business is up 2000% compared to the same week last year. “No one’s ever seen anything like this. It’s really amazing,” says Puzzle Warehouse Owner Brian Way.

Way says there are so many orders for the Missouri-based business, deliveries are on a two-week delay. They’ve also added 30 employees to keep up with the demand.

“It’s literally thousands of orders a day and for a visual, we’re shipping out more than a full tractor-trailer every day of completed orders,” Way says.

Puzzle Warehouse says 1,000-piece puzzles are the most popular.

Like so many Americans right now, Marc Sorresso and Lindsey Epstein are spending plenty of time with their family. “We came up to our parents’ house in Maine and have been here ever since, with my brother, quarantined,” Epstein says.

The Boston-based couple is working from home but stops each night at 6 p.m. And that’s when family members and the puzzle pieces start fitting together.

“To close out a day of work and go to something that feels comfortable in a time where things are not, and things are really up in the air, I think that probably provides a whole lot of good feelings for people at a time when they really need it,” Sorresso says.

Puzzlers says it’s a great way to step away from all the screen time and get in the game.

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